Californication
by annienhope
Summary: Harry and Ron go to California in the summer between GoF and OoF, but get more than a great tan. *Warning* All the chapter names are lyrics that we found that best suited the chapter description.
1. Welcome to the Hotel California...

Chapter 1 

  "Come on, Harry! Get out of bed! Today we are finally going to have fun." Ron bent over his best friend. Harry looked wearily up at the flaming red Weasley hair. 

"Gerroff me, Ron! I can't breathe!" Harry growled. He pushed Ron off his bed and rolled over under his blankets. (A/N: No, they do not share the same bed. I don't support the Harry/Ron slash, thanks.)

"Get up! Ever since we've arrived in California, you haven't done a thing except for sleeping in your bed. Let's actually have fun!" Ron jumped back onto the bed, pushing Harry out from under the comforter and onto the floor.

"Fine, now get off me!" Harry's muffled voice said.

Ron hopped off his friend and into his bathroom. 

  The hotel they were staying at was quite nice, but Harry hadn't tasted fresh air yet. He was extremely bored. Hermione kept telling everyone how lovely California was. It's too sunny, Harry thought, and no luck in the girl department, unlike Ron, however. Ron had already acquired seven girls' telephone numbers (which Hermione had diligently taught him to use) and had plans to go to an under 21 club with one of them that night. 

  It was amazing to Harry what the Americans had come up with. Under 21 Clubs. He knew that there were some in England, but he was never allowed, or even invited, to go to one.

  Harry schlumped into his bathroom and stared at his reflection. A boy of fifteen looked back at him. He wasn't wearing a shirt- just a pair of quidditch boxers and a pair of golden snitch socks that his house-elf friend Doby had given him one year for Christmas. Last year, Harry had been short and wiry, but not anymore. To ensure his place on the Gryffindor Quiditch team, he had begun to work out over the summer. He now had great abs, and beautiful stomach muscles.

Ron's face popped into the bathroom. "Kelly and I are going to go the beach. You want to come?"

          "Yeah, I think I will." Harry replied.

Later that night…                             

  After a good day of sunbathing, Harry felt great.  He was now nice and tan, and thought he had never looked better.

  It was almost time to go to the "Sand Crab" the U21 club that they were going to. Harry had bought a new T-shirt. Ron had bought a new pair of baggy shorts at a surf shop they had found along the boardwalk. A bell rang off in the distance as Ron sprayed a bit of cologne on. 

"It must be Kelly," Ron told Harry. He climbed over a miss-placed chair to get to the door. He swung it open and there stood an OK girl, standing around 5' 2". Harry thought she looked a little revealing in a midriff shirt and a denim mini skirt. 

"You ready?" Ron asked Harry a little impatiently. Harry nodded and the trio left the room.

It took them forever on the "muggle auto" as Ron called it. Kelly was positively smitten with Ron and thought it was cute British slang. When they finally got to the Sand Crab, loud dance music was blaring from the inside. Harry couldn't help but notice a lot of older couples making out in front of the club. Harry suddenly felt extremely alone. The trio made there way to the big steel doors and inside.


	2. I need a California girl...

Chapter 2.

As Harry stepped into the wave of noise, he saw her. She was up, high above stage, manning the turntables. She was beautiful. Long brown hair, and tan skin. She was wearing a black tank top with, what Harry thought was, a long black skirt.

Harry stared as he pushed his way to the front of the club, right up next to the stage. She had streaks of gold in her chocolate brown locks. Her hands moved over the disk like butterflies. Her nails were panted green.

She looked down. Harry waved. She smiled. His heart soared. No girl had ever smiled at him like that. It was amazing.

He motioned for her to come down, and she winked. _What did that mean_? Harry thought to himself. He had never been winked at, except for a snake, and that didn't count. 

As the song she had been playing ended, she waved at a pretty dark skinned girl to take the tables. They switched places, and the brown haired girl walked down the stairs that lead from the DJ booth to the dance floor.

She jumped off the spiral staircase about 10 stairs from the bottom, landing catlike in front of Harry. She sauntered over to him.

"HI!!" she yelled, but Harry could not hear her. He motioned to his ear, and then shook his head.

She took his wrist and led him over to a small room off of the dance floor, where some of the noise was closed out. 

"Hi!" she said again, "I'm Hope."

"I'm… uh, Harry." Harry mumbled. This was almost as hard as asking Cho to the Yule Ball last year. Almost.

"Hey uh Harry" the girl, Hope, teased.

"Hi…"

"Are you… British?" she asked.

"Uh, yeah. My friend Ron and I are on vacation here. We live in England." Harry explained.

"My friend, the one who's up there now," she pointed to the DJ booth, "she and I are here from New Jersey."

The stared at each other for a while, until a really fast, techno song came blaring out of the loudspeakers.

"Do, do you want to… Dance?" Harry asked nervously.

"Um, okay…" she was just as nervous as he was. 

They walked onto the dance floor, passing Ron and his date. Ron flashed his friend the thumbs up. Harry smiled weakly in return.


	3. Take my hand, guide me there, guide me t...

Hope started to dance, moving smoothly to the fresh beat that was being played high above. Harry just stood there, not knowing exactly what to do. He looked wildly around the room and tried to copy what other boys were doing out on the dance floor. Slowly, but surely, he started to get the feel of the beat.  

Harry, after getting up the nerve, finally looked into Hope's face. _She has a perfect tan,_ he thought to himself. _And really, really pretty hair. Maybe she's single. No, she's too beautiful._ The song changed again. Slow music again? Where did that come from? Hope wrapped her arms around Harry in an appropriate manner. Harry again stole a look at a neighboring couple and copied his arm placement Hope's hips. They revolved around the spot a few times, swaying back and forth as if they'd known each other forever. Hope rested her head on Harry's shoulder as they continued to dance. Harry could feel Hope's heart beating, an intoxicating rhythm that seemed to be apart of the music itself. Ron and Kelly danced by casually, with Ron giving Harry the thumbs up sign and disappearing into the crowd again. 

When the song came to and end, Hope led Harry over the glass elevator that led to the DJ booth.

"Wanna learn how to scratch?" Hope yelled over the blaring music. Harry swallowed and nodded. Hope smiled again and grabbed Harry by the hand. Harry's heat fluttered as he stood in the clear glass cage, slowly rising upwards. He hadn't felt this happy since his godfather, Sirius, promised that Harry could go live with him instead of the Dursleys. 

The elevator came to a halt and they stepped out. Hope tapped the curly-haired girl on the shoulder and jabbed her thumb towards Harry. She nodded and gave the thumbs-up sign to Hope. She was pretty, too, but Harry's eyes were to fixated on Hope to pay much attention.


End file.
